The Covid-19 Pandemic left no stones unturned to trash the backbone of the people. They struggled hard during these trying times. All economic activities were shut down and there was no source of income during the nationwide lockdown. Coming out of such difficulties and fighting with the storm named Covid-19, people emerged even stronger than before. After utilizing all the money and resources they had during the lockdown, they started from scratch to get their economic activities going without getting harassed by the extreme crisis situation.
Mukta Patra from Lanjigarh, Kalahandi, who’s a member of Jhansirani SHG had taken a first phase loan amount of INR 12,000 from Shaktimayee Foundation for starting a grocery shop in the year 2017. After repaying it in a year, she took a second phase loan amount of INR 20,000 in 2018. She used to earn INR 6,000 from the grocery shop which was not sufficient to manage a six membered family. She has four daughters who are currently studying in school & colleges respectively. To meet their educational expenses more money was needed. Considering on the necessity of more money, the family had a plan to increase the reach of their business by opening another grocery shop with the savings they had in a nearby village. But the lockdown aided adversely on their savings too. Everything was consumed to meet the basic requirements. But after the unlock phase started, Mahashakti Foundation with the esteem support of Vedanta Ltd., Lanjigarh under Project Sakhi worked hard on bringing the lives of the destitutes back on track.
Mukta again got the support of Shaktimayee Foundation and got a loan amount of INR 10,000 in August 2020 to start a poultry farm in the same village. With the money, she purchased chicks and has started raising them. The staffs of Mahashakti Foundation under Project Sakhi are assisting Mukta on how to raise the chickens and how to utilize the profit in a proper way. Within a month, Mukta has again started saving INR 100 per month in her SHG and has paid the first instalment on time.
As per Mukta, the loan amount with the support of Mahashakti Foundation & Vedanta Ltd. came as a relief in her otherwise decaying life. And we at Mahashakti want to reassure people that we are not going to deviate from our objective and keep empowering the lives of the poor. Let’s fight this pandemic together.
